Ålund, Edward

Abstract [en]

The average life expectancy and the proportion of elderly are increasing globally and inSweden, causing challenges for the society. Physical activity has proven to bring a number ofpositive benefits in older people, making the promotion of physical activity an important partof healthy aging attempts. The degree of physical activity in Sweden’s elderly population isgreater than in previous generations, making this group a positive exception from a widerperspective. A cross sectional study was made in order to investigate which motives tophysical activity that was considered most important among people above 60. Collected datawere analyzed with SPSS version 19.0 and the result showed that most of the given motiveswere viewed as important. Avoiding sickness and bad health and motives related toimprovement and maintaining of physical fitness were given the highest values. The degree ofphysical activity among the participants were also collected and a bivariate analyze could thusbe performed to investigate possible relations between physical activity and differentmotives. A statistic significant relation between a high degree of physical activity at gym(more than 2 days a week) and a high valuation of motives related the social aspect, goodfeelings and self-development were then found.